Orphan Black Wiki:Manual of Style
As everyone can edit most of the pages on this wiki, it is important to note that there are still certain requirements to keep the layout and structure of articles consistent throughout the wiki. Do not worry if you find the guidelines to be confusing. Granted, familiarizing yourself with these will help a lot, but if you really, truly cannot follow the guidelines, then this isn't a problem. Edits can be reverted or edited in a short time; nothing is permanent. This is not required for you especially if you just frequent for purposes other than editing. If you rarely edit, allow us admins to correct the mistakes for you. Otherwise, if you plan on becoming a regular editor, you must try to slowly familiarize yourself with these rules. Once in a while, we may leave you reminders or tutorials on your message wall; we will slowly guide you through this. However, if you blatantly just disregard these, repeated violations can be found as vandalism, a serious offense. After a certain amount of nonconforming edits, you will be notified about this by a user. If you don't understand or have any more questions, ask an admin or trusted user on their talk page for assistance. General * To be able to effectively edit the wiki articles, please switch over to . * See the sample character and episode articles for an example of the layout. * Articles made must all be directly related to the series or the wiki. ** Fanfiction stories, non-canon topics, opinions, assumptions and theories, rumors, and other false information do not belong in articles. However, you are free to share these through blogs, the Forum, or your user pages. * Before creating new pages, make sure it does not already exist by searching for it or asking an admin if in doubt. * Content on character pages should only be summarized. Details should be added to the episode pages. * When moving pages, if it is a major page you are moving, make sure a staff member has approved of it, particularly since sometimes, if you are redirecting to an already existing page, a delete is necessary. If you don't think an approval is necessary, at least make sure that the move is reasonable, like if it's misnamed, misspelled, or if there's a better name for it. * Always cite your references. These may be a reference to which episode a certain fact was established, or a linked reference to an external source about facts that are not stated on the show. In the case of real-world information, it is vital to distinguish fact from opinion, rumor, and vandalism. Style Spelling * American English spelling, grammar, punctuation, and word usage will be the standard on this wiki's official content such as articles and templates, unless the official term or source is of another language. * Formal use of language is mandatory on all canon mainspace articles to be as encyclopedic and authoritative as possible. Punctuation Common mistakes: * No apostrophes for dates (e.g. 1870s); apostrophes are only used with dates when truncated (e.g. '70s). * Consistent use of the straight (or typewriter) apostrophe ( ' ) is recommended, as opposed to the typographic (or curly) apostrophe ( ’ ). Linking Linking of other pages in articles should be limited to (1) the infobox, (2) the first occurrence of the word or phrase in each article, and (3) each section, or at least one scroll or page distance from the previous link. If the article is considerably short, do not keep linking anymore. This is because spamming too many wiki links makes articles difficult to read. Point of view Content * Information on pages for in-universe elements such as characters, locations, objects, etc., should be as summarized or concise as possible, without leaving the necessary details out; intricate details should be placed on the episode articles' "Synopsis" sections instead. * Accordingly, the information detailed on a page should be focused on the topic of the page; related elements mentioned in the article should not be thoroughly explained, especially if it has its own page. * In a mix of in-universe and real-world (or out-of-universe), tell the story in chronological order, as in in the sequence of events, but feel free to type in the episode title. Write summaries as if the author existed as an observer within the world of Orphan Black. To effectively distinguish and separate series events in the narrative, italicize the show title, its episodes, and other real-world titles such as comic book issues. The only exception to the italicization rule would be in infoboxes. NPOV To be able to properly give out the best information, one must write or edit articles with a completely neutral or objective point of view, meaning a user is without any bias, opinion, or general advice. This simply means that when you edit articles, refrain from using the words like "I"—"I think", or "I like, I hate." Avoid writing about what "some people" or "many fans" say or think. Instead, write about facts from within the series. You may also include information from official sources, but please be sure to provide a link to the source so that other users can verify it's true. Third person To be able to effectively narrate the stories in an in-universe and a neutral point of view, the third person narrative will be applied all across the wiki's articles. In the third-person narrative mode, each and every character should be referred to by the narrator as "he", "she", "it", or "they", and never as "I" or "we" (first-person), or "you" (second-person). In this third-person narrative, it is obvious that the writer is merely an unspecified entity or uninvolved person that conveys the story. Tense The tense varies in the in-universe articles, such as articles of characters, locations, events and objects. Events that occurred in the past should also be in past tense, such as in sections like a character's Biography, or an item, location, or event's History. However, present tense should be used for details which are current or a consistent description of the topic, such as Relationships, Personality, etc. for living characters. For deceased characters, most of the page, if not the whole thing, will be in past tense. Present tense (literary present) must be used on recaps in episode or issue articles. Publish # Decent edit summaries and clear and transparent explanations are universally appreciated. Other editors need to understand your process, and it also helps you remember what you did if you come back to the page at a later time. Please state what you changed and why in the Summary line to the left of the Save page button. If the explanation is too long, add more on the discussion page. # Use the preview button. Before you click on Save page, click on the Preview button to see what your change(s) will look like. This will give you the chance to fix it before it's saved. This may also help you combine two or more edits into a single change. Category:Policy